City removes 3 antennas at Totten Intermediate

Amid concerns about radiation, the city's Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications has taken down "temporarily" three radio antennas it placed atop Totten Intermediate School in Tottenville.

The 14-foot antennas were erected over last summer as part of the $75 million Citywide Radio Network designed to improve communication between firefighters and EMS and dispatchers.

"We certainly want to make it clear that we're not walking away from the school site -- we're temporarily taking down the antennas," said Vincent Grippo, chief of staff for the department. "This is absolutely vital; firefighters not being able to communicate poses an extreme danger to the community."

Some parents were outraged upon learning that the city had built -- without much public notification -- three antennas on top of a roof that covers the heads of the 1,178 students enrolled there.

"Our kids are literally separated by a roof from a huge antenna, and no one told us anything about it," said Ed Armstrong, whose 12-year-old daughter attends the school. "Show me one study that says it's safe -- they can't, because one hasn't been done."

The city says that the radiation from the antennas doesn't even approach thresholds set by the Federal Communications Commission, and that to be in potential danger one would have to be standing right next to the array.

The American Cancer Society says the energy released is too low to cause cancer, and in urban environments is often lower than that from other sources, like broadcast television and radio signals.

Armstrong and others point to the BioInitiative Report, which casts doubt that federally accepted limits for cell phone and wireless tower radiation levels are safe, and have been linked to childhood leukemia and brain tumors.

The antennas on top of Totten Intermediate were never turned on.

The Citywide Radio Network comprises 40 antennas throughout the five boroughs designed to boost communications between first responders.

Once in place, the network should let the FDNY speak directly to other agencies, like the Office of Emergency Management, and will let individuals talk directly to dispatchers using hand-held radios.

The DoITT says it hopes to have the system working by June.

The company contracted to construct the network, Motorola, had found that the only building tall enough in the area to be of any use was the school, but will go back and look for alternative sites, the department said.

The department experienced similar opposition when it was revealed it planned to build a wireless data antenna, part of a different, $500 million NYCWiN network, on top of PS 30 in Westerleigh.

The DoITT has put off construction and scheduled meetings with school administrators and the public for later this month.